'It shows the progress' - Leeds United left depleted by impressive Thorp Arch international involvement

Head coach Marcelo Bielsa has seen a number of his first team stars called into action for their countries as the Premier League takes a short early season hiatus.

Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford have headed away with Gareth Southgate's England while Tyler Roberts and deadline day arrival Daniel James have been called up by Wales.

Club captain Liam Cooper is away with Scotland and first team goalkeepers Illan Meslier (France) and Kristoffer Klaesson (Norway) have been included in their nation's Under-21s squads.

At academy level, though, the international action hasn't stopped there after no less than 13 players on the books at Thorp Arch down to the Under-17s ranks are spending time away.

Mark Jackson's Under-23s side have seen skipper Charlie Cresswell earn a first call into Lee Carsley's Three Lions Under-21s squad - an impressive feat having primarily played Premier League 2 football over the past year.

A further four players - Cody Drameh, Lewis Bate, Joe Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood - are enjoying time at St George's Park in the England's Under-20s outfit.

Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen (Scotland), Charlie Allen (Northern Ireland), Dani van den Heuvel (Netherlands) and Cian Coleman (Ireland) have all been included for Under-19s duty with their respective countries.

New centre-back signing Leo Hjelde is also with Norway's Under-18s while Scott Godden (Wales) and Darryl Ombang (England) round up the international action at Under-17s level.

"It's really pleasing when players are getting that recognition at international level," development coach Jackson told the YEP of the academy's international involvement.

"It means you've got good players on your hands. We know that. We know we have got good players and it is up to us to guide them now and make sure they live up to that potential and fulfil it.

"That's our responsibility as an academy to get them ready for that. The international call-ups for England and other countries throughout the academy is really positive for the club.

"It shows we're progressing in the right direction working with the calibre of players that we are."

The Whites academy has gone from strength to strength in recent times, earning category one status - the highest that can be achieved by any club - while attracting some of the best young talent from across Europe to West Yorkshire to mix with homegrown players.

United's Under-23s also earned promotion to the top flight of the Premier League 2 at the first time of asking last year and have laid good foundations in the first few games of the campaign for another strong season.

"We're really thankful to the club for helping the academy move forward to the category one status last year," Jackson continued.

"There's investment into the team and the money going into the academy is fantastic. It's our responsibility now as a staff to work with these players and develop these players as quickly as we can and get them ready to take that next step.

"It's going to be tough for us this year [the Under-23s] but we're fully confident as a group that we can compete at this level.

"That's what we said last year when we went into a new league and we're saying it again this year. We want to compete and we want to play against the best Under-23s players in the country and the best teams in the country.

"Those are the challenges that we want as coaches and players."